Turbo grief!

[Richard]

You're right on Skyking. I've seen some quality shops in Portland go from great work to "best guess". Flying back several times to a shop just to get a simple thing fixed, and fixed, and fixed. You're right, they cut corners. I can understand why though. It's quite clear. It's all a matter of "financial crisis". The owner is pressing the A&Ps to get the job done cheap...... "Get it done" Shops are competing for what little work their is in the GA world, so they bid low.... Then comes the expensive part.... the parts. Jacked up pricing on the parts leaves the shops with little room for what should be important.... the labor. You can make a really nice part into a crappy one in the "wrong" hands.

Doing it yourself seems to be a growing tend. (One I'm VERY happy about personally) Don't get me wrong. I love the people in the GA matanence. Great people. They just have their hands tied. I think it's refreshing to see people figuring out for themselves, they CAN do the work. They CAN use their own ideas, and with a little QC from friendly A&P's IA's. The work really turns out nice. I've seen some "non approved" work on planes that just make you say.... "Dang, why didn't they do that long ago."

What we are facing is an extinction of GA. Kit planes out sell certified planes (best guess) 100 to 1. Why? Because, if I put a newer tach in my plane.... who cares! I personally know of two skymasters who have been down for almost a year now because of one silly, stupid, unexplanable event..... they are needing a tach. Can't get them rebuilt anymore, can't find used, can't find a "approved" replacment. That's just silly. If GA is going to survive at all, things HAVE to change. If we all just sit and take it, your skymaster might as well be converted to a lawn mower.

Did you know the adverage age of an A&P is over 42 years of
age!

Sorry, didn't mean to get off topic. Just my sensitive side.

New turbo is really working well. Flew 5 hours today just to break it in. New one is much more effcient than the older one.

[Paul Sharp]

I think a large part of the problem, although I don't like it, is that the mechanics are paid so poorly. None of us wants to be paying more in what is already a fairly expensive activity. But a guy expected to know what they need to know to properly troubleshoot, repair, and work on aircraft - and to take the responsibility required, and the time needed to build experience even in some of these more obvious things - while getting paid under $20 and hour, even after years of experience...well...

I think that part of the overall problem is pretty obvious.

[brucehandley]

i've run turbo skymasters for 20 years. living in colorado the turbos get used! the wastegate controllers tend to coke up when the shafts wear. with 3000 hours i would bet the shats are worn. you can use a copper based lubricant periodically or have the wastegate overhauled($s). i also have had problems with the turbo controller, it seems a lot of shops don't know how to correctly overhaul them. eventually i found someone at firewall forward in ft collins, co that knows what they are doing. what i have noticed over the years is that shops in the mountain areas know a lot about turbos and oxygen systems because a lot of aircraft have them. sea level shops just haven't seen that many. as far as induction leaks, i had a rubber coupler come completely loose and still got near full boost at 7000 feet. the turbos are a bit overdesigned.

[bede1@msn.com]

Richard, that's why I mentioned ealier in the thread about checking the turbo. I've had both supercharged and turbo aircraft and when you told your problem, it was identical to the one I just went thru. My mechanic said right away that it was the turbo on my bird. It doesn't take much to shut down them compressors.

Bob

[SkyKing]

Bruce,

Just to make sure we're all on the same page here... are you saying the variable absolute pressure controller (VAPC) up top side tends to coke up when the main turbocharger shaft cokes up, or that the wastgate itself cokes up? As you know, the oil line from the engine to the wastegate and on up to the controller (VAPC) is totally separate from the oil line that lubricates the turbo shaft.

We have a 1200 hour TSIO360(C) that's producing a little carbon and of course flecks get stuck in the wastgate inlet orifice, which will cause zero boost until enough oil pressure overcomes and forces stuff out of the way... but that orifice is pretty tiny and since unfiltered oil is taken off the bottom of the accessory case to drive the wastegate actuator, this can be a continuing headache as the engine ages. Carbon can also block the controller. It's a many 'splintered' thing!

SkyKing